Baylor and Tulsa both struggle for win against I-A teams

<br>WACO, Texas (AP) _ Wins have been hard to come by for Baylor and Tulsa, especially against other Division I-A teams. <br><br>Baylor (1-2) hasn't won a game against a I-A opponent since beating

Friday, September 20th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WACO, Texas (AP) _ Wins have been hard to come by for Baylor and Tulsa, especially against other Division I-A teams.

Baylor (1-2) hasn't won a game against a I-A opponent since beating New Mexico 16-13 in overtime last Sept. 22. Their only two wins in 12 games since then have been against I-AA teams.

Tulsa (0-3) has the nation's longest losing streak at 13 games, and its last win was in the 2001 season opener against I-AA Indiana State. The Golden Hurricane haven't won against an upper-level school since beating San Jose State and Nevada in the last two games of the 2000 season.

``I can't say where one is any better or any worst than other,'' said Tulsa coach Keith Burns, who is 6-20 in his third season. ``Nobody likes the situation that we're in, and I'm sure (Baylor coach) Kevin Steele hates the place he's in. All you can do is fight like hell to get yourself out of that hole.''

Baylor is coming off a 23-0 loss at New Mexico, a game in which the Bears gained just 107 total yards on 57 offensive snaps against the last I-A team they beat.

``We were totally inept offensively. We didn't do anything very well,'' said Steele, 7-29 in his fourth season. ``We've got a pretty big hole to dig ourselves out of.''

This is Baylor's last non-conference game. The Bears have a 29-game Big 12 losing streak, including all 24 under Steele, since a win four years ago against Kansas, the team they play in their conference opener Oct. 5.

The Bears will try to bounce back again this season.

After falling behind 35-0 in the first quarter of their opener and losing 70-22 at California, now 3-0 and ranked 23rd, Baylor beat I-AA Samford 50-12. But the Bears couldn't do anything at New Mexico.

Aaron Karas, who replaced Greg Cicero as the starter, was pulled in the third quarter against New Mexico after hitting just 5-of-12 passes for 15 yards. But the sophomore is expected to be back as the starter Saturday.

``Aaron is the starter, and Greg is 1A, if you will, because I feel very confident of Cicero. He went in and settled things down the other day,'' Steele said. ``But we're not in a quarterback rotation thing. We need some continuity there.''

This is the third straight road game for Tulsa, which lost its season opener at home, 37-0 against No. 2 Oklahoma after trailing just 3-0 at halftime. The Golden Hurricane then lost 21-19 at Arkansas State before a 53-9 loss at Louisiana Tech in their WAC opener last weekend.

``We get an opportunity against a team that's struggled like us,'' Burns said. ``What we have to do is find a way to correct the mistakes we've made.''